Abbott Laboratories

Companies highlighted in this weekly wrap include Abbott Laboratories (ABT - Analyst Report), McDonald's Corp. ( MCD - Analyst Report), Flowers Foods, Inc. ( FLO - Snapshot Report), L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (LLL - Analyst Report) and Raytheon Company (RTN - Analyst Report).

The company has managed to outperform the Dow Jones ($DJI), S&P 500 Index (SPX) and NASDAQ Composite Index (COMP) over the long-term and during recent market woes.

Analysts continue to be bullish on ABT’s earnings estimates. Full-year forecasts of $3.32 per share were boosted from last month’s projections of $3.30.

Read our Nov 06, 2008 analysis.

Last Week's Growth and Income Zacks Rank Buy Stocks

McDonald's Corp. (MCD - Analyst Report) just reported a global same-store sales increase of 8.2% in October. Sales were particularly robust in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Domestic same-store sales increased by 5.3% thanks to new menu items like the Southern Style Chicken sandwich, continued demand for breakfast items and popular Dollar Menu items. Read the full analysis on MCD.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO - Snapshot Report) recently announced third-quarter earnings of 29 cents per share, surpassing the previous year’s 24 cents and beating the consensus estimate by a penny. Sales jumped 21% on a year-over-year basis. Read the full analysis on FLO.

L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (LLL - Analyst Report) recently declared a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share. The company noted that the dividend is payable on December 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 17. LLL’s dividend yield of 1.6% stands out within its industry as most of the company’s peers pay no income. Read the full analysis on LLL.

Raytheon Company (RTN) continues to boast a Zacks #1 Rank (“strong buy”). The company has seen analysts hike estimates as they forecast year-over-year earnings growth of 22% for 2008. Read the full analysis on RTN. - Analyst Report